The Federal Reserve wants inflation to rise and the central bank has tried to nudge it higher, but they haven’t had much success. Inflation at both the wholesale and consumer levels has been constrained to an annualized rate around 1%, about half as much as the Fed would like.

Harsh weather has made it tougher for home builders to start new projects in early 2014, but that doesn’t mean construction is slowing down. The level of building permits suggests construction will accelerate as warmer temperatures arrive.

thrown a kink in the operations of U.S. manufacturers and we’ll probably get more evidence of this Thursday.

Indexes by Markit Flash PMI and Philadelphia Federal Reserve are likely to show a slower pace of production in February. That’s what happened in the New York region, according to a similar manufacturing index issued by the New York Fed earlier this week.

Cold and snowy conditions over the past month certainly haven’t helped, but there are also signs weather may not be the only factor. Economists will sift for clues via new orders and other categories for a better idea of what’s going on.

Frosty the Snowman had a jolly good time in January. The same cannot be said for shoppers. Unusually severe weather – polar vortexes and all – made it harder for people to drive and shop in the first month of 2014.